1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to connectors which are capable of forming mechanical and/or electrical connection between two or more objects.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,839 and the reissue thereof, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 29,904, which are incorporated herein by reference, disclose a reusable connecting device having a forked resilient member having two tines or spring elements which are capable of being moved inwardly and when so moved exert an outward force on the means which is moving them inwardly and further including a band of heat-recoverable metallic material which is placed around the exterior of the tines of the fork member. The metallic band is caused to shrink, thereby urging the two tines toward one another and against an object inserted between them.
The usable size of the opening between the tines of the prior-art device is dependent primarily upon the elastic range of the heat-recoverable metallic material used in the band or driver. In general, this elastic range is small and therefore the range of pin size is limited. The instant invention simulates an extended elastic range of the band or driver by the use of an additional spring element, i.e., the socket overload portion which acts as an overload mechanism for the band or driver of heat-recoverable metallic material.
Heat-recoverable metals are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,012,882 to Muldawer et al and 3,174,851 to Buehler et al, and Belgian Pat. No. 703,649 to Wang et al, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. As made clear in these patents, these metal alloys undergo a transition between an austenitic state and a martensitic state at certain temperatures. When they are deformed up to ten percent while they are in the martensitic state, they will retain this deformation while held in this state but will revert to their original configuration when they are heated to a temperature at which they transfer to their austenitic state. This ability to shrink upon warming has been utilized in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,035,007 and 4,198,081, which are also incorporated by reference herein. The temperatures at which these transitions occur are affected, of course, by the nature of the alloy. The heat-recoverable metallic material, also known as a shape-memory alloy, from which the band may be fabricated is titanium-nickel-copper alloy, disclosed in the co-pending and commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 355,274, filed Mar. 5, 1982, which is incorporated herein by reference. Patent application Ser. No. 355,274 was abandoned in favor of continuation-in-part application Ser. No. 537,316, filed Sept. 28, 1983.